By TYLER KEPNER

Published: August 27, 2005

Gary Sheffield would not take questions about his troubled uncle, Dwight Gooden, before last night's Yankees game. But Sheffield asked the Yankees' media relations director, Rick Cerrone, to read a statement on his behalf.

''My prayers are with my uncle,'' the statement said. ''I pray that he will seek and receive the help he so desperately needs.''

Gooden, 40, turned himself in to the police in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday, nearly four days after fleeing a traffic stop for suspected drunken driving. Gooden, the former Mets and Yankees pitcher, was jailed without bail until an October hearing.

''I'm glad he's safe, because when someone's hiding out, you never know how desperate they become or what goes through their mind,'' Yankees Manager Joe Torre said. ''If they're not thinking straight, anything's liable to happen. So I'm just happy he's someplace that he can be supervised and hopefully get some help.

''Because he's got a lot of life left, hopefully. The only thing we can do at this point is hope that he gets better.''

Sheffield is close to Gooden, a fact that has complicated Sheffield's life. He has often said that some people have been suspicious of him because of Gooden's troubles with the law.

Sheffield has not asked for time off lately and has played every game since Gooden's arrest.

''He loves the game, he loves the competition, he loves his teammates,'' Torre said. ''He's uncomfortable, obviously, with everything else. When things are happening now with his uncle, it's no fun for him. It's an emotional roller coaster I'm sure he's on. But he doesn't talk a whole lot.''

Awaiting Word on Suspension

Major League Baseball heard Gary Sheffield's appeal yesterday of the two-game suspension he received for a helmet-throwing incident on June 26, when Umpire C.B. Bucknor ejected him from a game against the Mets.

Sheffield told reporters he had reviewed a tape of the incident and was waiting for a decision from baseball.

''I just hope that I don't get suspended at all, because right now, whether I'm swinging good or not, I need to be in the lineup and try to make some kind of difference with this ball club,'' Sheffield said.

Rodriguez Hits the Black Seats

Alex Rodriguez's homer in the sixth inning was his 38th of the season, best in the American League. It was his 23rd homer at Yankee Stadium, extending his single-season record for a right-hander. And it was the third of his career to land in the black seats, tying the record for homers to that area.

Bernie Williams and Danny Tartabull have also hit three balls into the black seats. Only 30 home runs (including three in the postseason) have landed in the black since the park was remodeled for the 1976 season.

Mendoza Owns Class AAA

Ramiro Mendoza is off to a strong start at Class AAA Columbus, with a 1-0 record and a 1.13 earned run average in his first six games. But that does not mean he will earn a call-up in September. Mendoza, a member of four Yankees championship teams, is coming off shoulder surgery after pitching for Boston the past two seasons. He was never a hard thrower, but he needs to throw harder than he has been for his pitches to sink the way they used to.

''There's not a lot of time left,'' Joe Torre said. ''But he's throwing probably 84, 85. Ideally, you'd want him to be around 88.''

Posada Sends a Cotton Message

George Steinbrenner, the Yankees' principal owner who puts motivational slogans on display throughout the team's spring-training clubhouse, would have been proud of Jorge Posada yesterday.

After batting practice, Posada strode through the clubhouse with navy blue T-shirts slung over his shoulders. He draped a shirt over each locker and had plenty of extras for the Yankees' support staff.

The slogan, in white letters, said, ''Grind It'' on the front and ''There is no trying. There is doing or not doing'' on the back.

Photo: Dwight Gooden in court with his mother, Ella, and two court-appointed lawyers. (Photo by Reuters)